Vocabulary

1. chore n. 琐事，讨厌或累人的工作

2. colloquialism n. 白话、口语，方言

3. gullible adj. 易受骗的；轻信的

4. self-hypnotism   n.  自我催眠

5. permissible (for) adj. 可允许的，获得准许的

6. eugenicist n. 优生学家

Expression

If your patience were not yet exhausted, chances are you'd answer something like this: “I'm this way because I choose to be, because I've considered other sentiments and preferences and attitudes and have made my selections.

patience-exhaust 耐心耗尽

chances are 有可能

I-choose，consider，make the selections （彰显人为因素的词汇与表达）

If you had lived in America in colonial times, you likely would have had no objection to the practice of barring women from serving on a jury, entering into a legal contract, owning property, or voting.

时间地点限定+虚拟语气+likely-避免异议

bar v. 阻挡

（后面几项可做性别歧视话题的例证）

Television programmers use frequent scene shifts and sensory appeals such as car crashes, violence, and sexual encounters to keep audience interest from diminishing.

use … and … such as … to keep … from … 一气呵成

Summary

1. Who are you?

Humans are not represented by just names, but described in more details.

However, we can't say our identities precisely because the world we all living in has a greater impact on us than most of us realize.

2. What may influence your identity?

Time and Place

Ideas

Mass Culture

Manipulation

Psychology

Excerpt

Becoming an Individual

In light of what we have discussed, we should regard individuality not as something we are born with but rather as something acquired—or, more precisely, earned. Individuality begins in the realization that it is impossi-ble to escape being influenced by other people and by circumstance. The essence of individuality is vigilance. The following guidelines will help you achieve this:

1. Treat your first reaction to any person, issue, or situation as tentative. No matter how appealing it may be, refuse to embrace it until you have examined it.

2. Decide why you reacted as you did. Consider whether you borrowed the reaction from someone else—a parent or friend, perhaps, or a celebrity or fictional character on television. If possible, determine what specific experiences conditioned you to react this way.

3. Think of other possible reactions you might have had to the person, issue, or situation.

4. Ask yourself whether one of the other reactions is more appropriate than your first reaction. And when you answer, resist the influence of your conditioning.

To ensure that you will really be an individual and not merely claim to be one, apply these guidelines throughout your work in this book, as well as in your everyday life.

Thought

第一章从Who are you入手，描述了人的不同与其背后环境的关系。我从思维训练的角度，思考了一下作者的角度和逻辑：

1、时间、地点 - 自然环境

时间和地点会影响一个人对一件事的态度。比如对于“专制”和“领袖”，朝鲜人和中国人的理解肯定会有所不同。

2、观点 - 内部态度

3、大众文化 - 社会背景

大众媒体对人的作用潜移默化，文章中提到了一个注意力转移的问题。由于媒体通过快速切换内容吸引观众注意力，观众越发难以得到满足。

4、操纵 - 人为因素

5、心理学 - 自身发展